As dark fell on Hancock last Wednesday, cars started to arrive at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl. Even a steady rain couldn’t keep the skiers away. There were college students coming from class, families entertaining their kids and professionals fleeing their desks. By 4:30 p.m. the lift had a short line — the only time that had happened all day.
“Our crowds are as good or better at night as they are during the day,” said Mike Hussey, the general manager of the Snow Bowl, a small, college-owned, ski area where the first trails date to 1934. Night skiing is a far more recent addition — only about a month old — but so far Hussey says it’s been a tremendous success.
“This is a huge piece of rebuilding the ski culture in Middlebury,” he said of a pastime that had started to fade in recent years. Enrollment in the local youth racing program, the Middlebury Ski Club, had dropped to perilously low levels, and the high school disbanded its alpine ski team all together. The Snow Bowl was losing its place as a center of gravity in the community.
Recent changes — from upgrading the free beginners area to expanding the concessions menu (including adding alcohol) — had seemingly begun to nudge visitor numbers back up. This year the ski area also replaced a lift. But it’s night skiing, which runs Wednesday to Friday evenings, that’s made perhaps the biggest difference, according to Hussey, in terms of both skier visits and revenue.
“One begets the other,” said Hussey, who says the Snow Bowl is very close to a financial break even point, which has long been a goal for the college. “This could be the year we go over the top.”
Night skiing has similarly bolstered the Middlebury Ski Club’s fortunes. Membership has nearly doubled in the last few years, according to Morgan Cate, the operations manager and a coach for the club. “It was growing in anticipation of night skiing,” he said as his son whizzed by on a giant slalom course that he was supposed to be slowly scouting, and removing snow from, before going full speed. “Slip the course first!”
The more accommodating hours have allowed the club to compete with traditional sports, such as basketball or wrestling, according to Cate. The alpine team at the high school has even reformed and, if the first couple of years go well, it could become a varsity sport again. But Cate doesn’t only come up for Wednesday night training. He’s here other evenings as well.
“It gives kids something to do after school,” he said, adding that Friday evenings are especially popular, when there’s usually a band and no class or work the next day. “It’s pretty fun.”
For the college, it’s another way to keep its students active, as well, and they seem to be taking advantage of the opportunity. Just above the ski club’s course, a gaggle of first-years huddled to decide which run to take. They had finished their 3 p.m. lessons and kept practicing afterwards — something that wasn’t possible in the past.
“We’re getting newer folks who are trying to learn how to ski,” said Chelsea Smith, a volunteer ski patroller and a Middlebury student. Her roommate, she said, hadn’t really come up until the advent of the expanded hours, which run until 8:45 p.m. “Everyone is really excited about it.”
Hussey hopes that these are just the early days of Middlebury’s renewed passion for skiing. The Snow Bowl has also been actively integrating with the college’s cross-country ski area, Rikert — with the duo recently launching a phone app called “Ski Middlebury.” Hussey would like to see more birthday parties, corporate meetings and other events at the burgeoning resort, as well. Perhaps, at some point, it can even add a proper bar.
“Lots of plans,” he said, hesitant to predict exactly what comes to fruition next. “But it’s all kind of lining up.”
